November 09, 2017

The Blindness Of Trump Hate

I think Salena Zito had the best insight of 2016 when she wrote this about Trump in The Atlantic, six weeks before the election:

"The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally."

It's all about good will and benefit of the doubt. Trump supporters see good will in his heart and so they give him the benefit of the doubt when he mangles some statement or acts outside the boundaries of other presidents in modern times. Trump haters have decided that he brings malice and stupidity and so they give him the benefit of the doubt on nothing. How we got to this point and why we are still here a year after is the topic of another post, but I think this is where we are at.

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned President Trump against ignoring — and undercutting — State Department officials, saying that doing so would ultimately make the United States "weaker."

"He's just flying blind," Clinton said on NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers."

"And you know, he doesn't listen to people — he undercut his own secretary of State about diplomacy on the North Korea problem."

"I think it weakens us. I think it gives a lot of aid and comfort to these leaders of countries that are trying to frankly take advantage of us during this time when we don't seem to have a particular strategic understanding of our role in the world."

Clinton is referring to when Trump told Tillerson that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea.

If your perspective is that Trump is an idiot and/or evil then it's not hard to come to the conclusion that Trump is "flying blind" and "undercut" Tillerson and isn't it all so awful that Trump is president. However, since I'm not blinded by Trump hate, I think it is quite obvious what Trump is doing and it is neither stupid nor evil.

Trump is a dealmaker and he has brought negotiating tactics and skills from his business experience into the North Korea situation, among others. In simple terms, he's playing "bad cop" to Tillerson's "good cop," though it is much more complicated than that. The national interests of the US, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan are directly at stake, not to mention the region as a whole. There are many pieces on the chess board and Trump and his team are working hard to maneuver them for maximum leverage. Playing bad cop is just a part of that negotiating dance.

Tillerson, McMaster, Mattis, and Kelly are not fools. They have spent much of their lives studying history and strategy while serving the United States for decades. To think that Trump is flying blind with them at his side is either stupid or egregious cynicism from someone who knows better. It remains to be seen if their effort to end North Korea's nuclear capability will get anywhere, but they deserve our thanks for trying and our prayers that they succeed.

Comments

I think Salena Zito had the best insight of 2016 when she wrote this about Trump in The Atlantic, six weeks before the election:

"The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally."

It's all about good will and benefit of the doubt. Trump supporters see good will in his heart and so they give him the benefit of the doubt when he mangles some statement or acts outside the boundaries of other presidents in modern times. Trump haters have decided that he brings malice and stupidity and so they give him the benefit of the doubt on nothing. How we got to this point and why we are still here a year after is the topic of another post, but I think this is where we are at.

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned President Trump against ignoring — and undercutting — State Department officials, saying that doing so would ultimately make the United States "weaker."

"He's just flying blind," Clinton said on NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers."

"And you know, he doesn't listen to people — he undercut his own secretary of State about diplomacy on the North Korea problem."

"I think it weakens us. I think it gives a lot of aid and comfort to these leaders of countries that are trying to frankly take advantage of us during this time when we don't seem to have a particular strategic understanding of our role in the world."

Clinton is referring to when Trump told Tillerson that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea.

If your perspective is that Trump is an idiot and/or evil then it's not hard to come to the conclusion that Trump is "flying blind" and "undercut" Tillerson and isn't it all so awful that Trump is president. However, since I'm not blinded by Trump hate, I think it is quite obvious what Trump is doing and it is neither stupid nor evil.

Trump is a dealmaker and he has brought negotiating tactics and skills from his business experience into the North Korea situation, among others. In simple terms, he's playing "bad cop" to Tillerson's "good cop," though it is much more complicated than that. The national interests of the US, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan are directly at stake, not to mention the region as a whole. There are many pieces on the chess board and Trump and his team are working hard to maneuver them for maximum leverage. Playing bad cop is just a part of that negotiating dance.

Tillerson, McMaster, Mattis, and Kelly are not fools. They have spent much of their lives studying history and strategy while serving the United States for decades. To think that Trump is flying blind with them at his side is either stupid or egregious cynicism from someone who knows better. It remains to be seen if their effort to end North Korea's nuclear capability will get anywhere, but they deserve our thanks for trying and our prayers that they succeed.